Gianfranco "Franco" Enriquez (20 November 1927 – 30 August 1980) was an Italian stage, opera and television director.
Franco Enriquez | |
|---|---|
 Enriquez in RAI television studios (Radiocorriere magazine, 1955) | |
| Born | Gianfranco Enriquez 20 November 1927 Florence, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 30 August 1980 (aged 52) Ancona, Italy |
| Occupation | Director |
Life and career
editBorn in Florence, Enriquez was the son of conductor Vittorio Gui and musician Elda Solaroli.[1] In the late 1940s, while being a student of Italian literature at the University of Florence, he became assistant director of Giorgio Strehler and later of Luchino Visconti.[1] In 1951, he made his directorial debut with an adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw's drama Caesar and Cleopatra, played by the Ricci-Magni stage company at the Teatro Eliseo in Rome.[1] He made his opera debut one year later, directing Maria Callas in Vincenzo Bellini's Norma.[1]
Starting from 1954, Enriquez was also very active on television, specializing in adaptations of stage works, notably Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Antony and Cleopatra.[1][2] In 1961, he co-founded the successful and critically acclaimed theatrical company "Compagnia dei quattro" ("Company of the Four") with Valeria Moriconi (with whom he started a relationship that lasted until his death), Glauco Mauri and Mario Scaccia.[1] He later became artistic director of the Teatro Stabile di Torino and then of the Teatro Stabile di Roma, and in 1968 he co-wrote with Franco Cuomo and directed one of the first Italian works inspired by the Protests of 1968, the drama play Discorso per la lettera a una professoressa della scuola di Barbiana e la rivolta degli studenti ("Speech for the letter to a teacher from the Barbiana school and the students' revolt").[1]
Diagnosed with severe liver dysfunction, Enriquez died on 30 August 1980 at the age of 52.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Sallusti, Sisto (1993). "Enriquez, Gianfranco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 42. Treccani.
- ^ Grasso, Aldo; Scaglioni, Massimo (1996 – 2003). "Enriquez, Franco". Enciclopedia della Televisione. Garzanti. p.226. ISBN 881150466X.